GLASGOW 2014 volunteer Patricia MacKinnon, 64, set the Scottish record for the 100-yard dash as an 18-year-old back in 1967 - three years before she took on the world at the 1970 Games in Edinburgh.

ONE of the sprint stars of ­Scotland’s 1970 Commonwealth Games team is back in action in Glasgow – 47 years after setting a record she still holds.

Sports fans might catch a glimpse of Games volunteer Patricia MacKinnon as she helps organise track and field events at Hampden Park.

But few know the supergran set the Scottish record for the 100-yard dash as an 18-year-old back in 1967, three years before she took on the world at the 1970 Games in Edinburgh.

Now 64, she remembers those days with pride and still has the opening ­ceremony uniform and nylon tracksuit.

She said: “In 1970 I was selected for the Scottish athletics squad and we were told to wear this tartan uniform.

“When the Games came around this time and there was the controversy over this year’s outfit, I thought I’d dig it out.

“I remember the closing ceremony at Meadowbank Stadium. All the teams were walking around the track behind the Queen’s carriage and all of a sudden, they just went, ‘Wahoo’, and there was this massive party.

“Now I’m with the Clydesiders and I’m doing markers on the 100m home straight and I was next to the finish line as the men’s sprinters came home.

“The atmosphere is so good and the young kids are brilliant. The whole thing is just brilliant and I just want to run.

“If I had known ­Scotland was short of sprinters I would have started training again.

“I think my times might not make the cut now, though.”

The former Patricia Pennycook’s career, which began at Netherlee Primary School in Glasgow, was stellar.

She said: “I’ve always been a runner from a young age. I was only ever ­interested in athletics at school and I won everything.

“I remember being at Netherlee when the teacher went to get my first pair of spikes, way back when I was 11 in 1960.

“That was so exciting. We used to go down to the track and do shuttle relays in them.”

She started competing in international schools competitions after moving up to Craigholme School for Girls, in ­Pollokshields.

“I beat the English girls and at that point, Dorothy Hyman was a gold medal Olympic athlete who was training the English team,” said Patricia.

“The English officials didn’t think a wee Scottish girl could beat their girls but I did.

“It was an incredible achievement but I was still not chosen to go to Canada for an international event because the team had already been selected.

“It was difficult being in Scotland because you didn’t get as much help.”

Undeterred, Patricia went on to join Maryhill Ladies Athletics Club and trained with the British team at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

She worked as an ­embroiderist at Paisley’s J&P Coats, earning £400 a year to fund her blossoming athletics career.

She travelled across the UK with the Maryhill club to compete in meets in Manchester, Birmingham and ­Blackpool.

Finally, at the 1970 Games, the years of training saw her make the Scottish squad.

Patricia in the Daily Record in 1969

She put her name in the record books by setting the Scottish record for the 100-yard dash – 91.44 metres to be exact – in 10.7 seconds.

Three years later at the Commonwealth Games, the event was changed to 100m, preserving her record forever.

During the Games she joined Ann Wilson, Helen Golden and Liz ­Sutherland in the 4x100m relay.

The team finished fourth in a time of 45.46 seconds. It was a Scottish record. Incredibly, it still is.

“I never really appreciated the record at the time, life just takes over,” said Patricia.

An original print from the Games, bought for her by her dad John, hangs proudly in her home in Houston, ­Renfrewshire.

She said: “We were not allowed to get paid. The sport was completely amateur. It was a totally different world to now.

“In 1970 it was the first Friendly Games. After the Games, though, I got ­disillusioned with the sport. I broke a few records but then I picked up an injury.”

Patricia hung up her spikes and, in 1974, married Hugh and had three children, Neil, 36, Colin, 34, and Rhona, 32.

She worked with the Glasgow Athletics Development Scheme but the love of competing never left her and she began running again in prestigious veterans’ races in 1998.

Rightly proud of everything she achieved and surprised that her records still stand, she admits being amazed that no one is able to fill her track shoes.

Patricia MacKinnon in her Games uniform

She said: “I’m really disappointed there are no Scottish sprinters.

“I do think we concentrate on the middle distances and all the kids are doing 5km and 10km runs.